"Lilies" is a poem about a love between friends that has lasted longer than most marriages. My two best girlfriends, who I grew up with in Upstate New York, live miles away in different states. We're lucky if we see each other once a year. When we do, we always think how lovely it would be to go camping—to have real time together we haven't had since our kids were born. And even though it might be another few years, even though most days we're just barely floating, there's still that North Star hope. This poem is my cairn to mark the spot where we once went swimming.

Originally from New York's Mohawk Valley, Bethany Bowman has lived and taught in Indiana for over a decade. She is the author of Swan Bones (2018). Her poems have appeared in Apple Valley Review, Nimrod, and Poetry Online, among others.